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Douglas, Stephen Arnold (1813-1861) Speech of Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, Delivered in Richmond, Virginia, July 9, 1852.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00267.189 Author/Creator: Douglas, Stephen Arnold (1813-1861) Place Written: Richmond, Virginia Type: Pamphlet Date: 9 July 1852 Pagination: 8 p. ; 24.8 x 16 cm.

Summary of Content: Supports Franklin Pierce as the Democratic presidential candidate. Gives a summary of Pierce's achievements and qualifications for the position of president: "Hence, as democrats, we invite the most rigid and strict scrutiny into the public and private character of Franklin Pierce and William R. King." Talks of why General Winfield Scott of the Whig party would not be a good candidate. Also does not speak well of the Whig party in general: "Not content with depriving men of their bread, they turn them away with a tarnished name." Printed most likely by the Richmond Examiner, who wrote the introduction. Folio sheet folded into octavo size with top edges uncut.

Background Information: Douglas had courted Mary Todd, who married his political rival for the 1860 Presidancy, Abraham Lincoln. He also proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. King was the running mate of Pierce, who ...won the 1852 election against Scott. Scott served on active duty as a general longer than any other man in American history. Over the course of his fifty-year career, he commanded forces in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Black Hawk War, the Second Seminole War, and, briefly, the American Civil War, conceiving the Union strategy known as the Anaconda Plan that would be used to defeat the Confederacy.See More

People: Douglas, Stephen Arnold, 1813-1861
Pierce, Franklin, 1804-1869
King, William Rufus, 1786-1853
Scott, Winfield, 1786-1866

Historical Era: National Expansion and Reform, 1815-1860

Subjects: PresidentElectionDemocratic PartyGovernment and CivicsPoliticsWhigs

Sub Era:

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